Modi, Shah in the line of fire over Bihar poll debacle

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance was ahead in 58 seats where trends were clear.

After facing humiliating defeat in the Bihar assembly elections, the BJP is under fire from its own senior party men over its poll campaign led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“We’re proud that under Modi’s leadership we’re running maximum quantity of state governments and have more MLAs than just about any other party”, Sharma said. “People were feeling suffocated and they got courage with the Bihar election and now they are speaking”, he added. “We have to be single-mindedly focused on development, development, development”, said BJP Member of Parliament Chandan Mitra.

A day after BJP’s “thumping” defeat in the crucial polls, editorials and commentaries here said Pakistan was “more than usually interested” in the assembly elections amid protests against Pakistani singers and calls for major Muslim Indian film stars to “return to Pakistan”.

Another JD (U) leader Ajay Alok said that if Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah have morality, they would take the responsibility of the Bihar debacle.

Sena said that the message in the results is that humility is not an ornament used for show-off, but a self-protection tool.

Himachal Pradesh industries minister Mukesh Agnihotri said that Bihar polls had boosted the morale of Congress workers and the countdown of BJP had begun.

To a question on the pending GST bill, he hoped that Bihar would support the legislation because as a consuming state it would benefit from the new indirect tax legislation.

Srinagar: CPI (M) leader Muhammad Yousuf Tarigami and Peoples Democratic Front Chairman Hakim Mohammad Yasin have complemented the people of Bihar for the resounding defeat they have given to the RSS-led NDA alliance in the elections. “Despite employing money power and official machinery, the declaration of a huge Rs 1.50 lakh crore package, the people rejected BJP and Nitish-Lalu partnership came up trumps”, the edit said. As the issue of another term for party president is to be decided in December, while the organisational elections are on.

A sombre Modi telephoned Nitish Kumar and congratulated him.

Lalu Prasad Yadav-led RJD topped the tally with 80 seats, followed by the JD(U)’s 71 and the Congress’s 27.